No regrets
by bhut
Summary: Even as Jenny goes out on a date with Nick, Helen has no regrets about her past decisions.
1. Chapter 1

**No regrets**

_Disclaimer: All of the characters belong to Impossible Pictures™._

Shortly after sunset, the sky has cleared out somewhat, and the rain has stopped. The smallish - but fashionable - car of Jenny Lewis' was almost in Nick's driveway, and from her vantage point high on a roof Helen could clearly see Nick as well, as he set things up at his end as well.

"You know," Helen turned conversationally to a barn owl that had emerged from the attic beneath the roof, "things could've gone very different. I could've not gone through the time anomaly, or decided to major in art, rather than anthropology... though it wouldn't have mattered: somehow or other I would still end up involved with the ARC, whether Lester or Johnson ran the show, whether I was romantically involved with Nick or someone else. The only thing different would be me, I would've been at least a 50% different person, probably more."

The owl hooted softly, its head swivelling and turning, as it tuned-in to a sudden ticking that came from Helen's pocket.

"Ah," said Helen softly, as she pulled out a futuristic watch from the future. "Eleven and counting. Good. I wonder if the thecodonts will make it in the early Eocene epoch or not. Anyways, as I was saying-"

Helen's clock struck twelve, and as Nick opened the door, he had the pleasure of personally seeing how Jenny transformed from a human to a reptilian humanoid: the early Triassic theocodonts proved to be quite adaptable after all.

Nick himself had remained human: the primate mammals had a lot of adaptability as well, not to mention somewhat bigger brains; plus unlike now not-Jenny he had certain resistance to such tricks. Nevertheless, that metamorphoses had transfixed him, caught him unaware, and essentially made him unconscious, his cheeks bright red from the unexpressed fury.

"As I was saying," Helen finished cheerfully, as she pulled out a dead house mouse and fed it to the grateful owl, "I still will rather be a bitch. Cheers, Nicky!"

End


	2. Chapter 2

**No regrets – take 2**

_Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, but belong to Impossible Pictures™._

"So, Nick, I see that you and Jenny are making an effort to get along with," Connor Temple spoke one fine day. "I guess having this talk between the two of you has cleared the air?"

"Yes, Connor, I have had a lot of practice dealing with women that make me uncomfortable – well, make it a woman, really, my ex-wife, to be precise," Nick said curtly. "Now, if you excuse me, I got a job to do – namely, figuring out a way as to how we're to get to the time anomaly that is located under this pier-"

Nick trailed off. Unknown to him, deep in the Carboniferous, his ex-wife Helen had unintentionally (or not) stepped on a particular ancestral plant, and that caused a chain reaction of over 300 million years in length...

What Nick _did_ know, however, that abruptly the reality had blurred around him, and he suddenly found himself in a small and quaint cafe on a non-date with Jenny. Considering, that she was still a reptilian humanoid, this was less exciting than he once thought it would be.

"Why, professor Cutter," Jenny said in her 'newly-acquired' accent. "I am very pleased that you have agreed to go out with me to repay my debt. Please, have some of this salad."

Nick looked down at his dish – and it _did_ look like a salad, albeit one that seemed to be composed of giant plants and insect parts, and took the first bite, wishing intently for Helen to be here, so that he could kill her.

...To his surprise, the salad was surprisingly good, as was the rest of the meal, but that is another story.

End


	3. Chapter 3

**No regrets – part 3 (ripple effects)**

_Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, but belong to Impossible Pictures™._

"You know, I am starting worry about Nick," Connor told his fiancée one evening. "His relationship with Miss Lewis is extremely weird, and it remains weird as well."

"Mmm," the latter nodded absent-mindedly, as she put finishing touches on herself in the mirror. "But, well, they make a weird couple, what with different ways of living and all."

"And that's my point exactly!" Connor said, triumphantly. "Plus I think that he become a technophile all of a sudden!"

"Well, not everyone understands the advantages of riding a fast, big bird, plus their beaks and talons are quite intimidating _and_ with all heavy equipment that you need to lug around by car, it was only a matter of time until someone became fond of these machines."

"I guess you're right," Connor leaned downwards and gave his fiancée a kiss on the cheek. "Now it's off to the theatre – the show is waiting!"

"And that's what I love about you," Caroline - soon-to-be-Temple – Steele smiled back at her man. "You're just so outrageously great!"

"That's right!" Connor grinned, cheerfully. "Let's go."

"Not so fast!" Connor's elder sister (well, half-sister, when they had a fight and it would get technical) got into the room and shot a couple of pics. "There, _now_ you can go."

"Christy!" Connor groaned. "Sis! We will be back!"

"Yeah, at the twelfth hour and strongly dishevelled," Christine Johnson rolled her eyes. "Now off you go, the two of you – you got an appointment at the theatre!"

...As her half-brother and his girl went downstairs, Christine couldn't help but smile happily, when she half-heard Connor acknowledge her as 'cool'. Honestly, a loving, warm-hearted family – what more could a person want?

End


	4. Chapter 4

**No regrets – part 4**

_Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, but belong to Impossible Pictures™._

"Well, this proves to be interesting," Helen muttered thoughtfully to herself, as she observed Nick still getting along with Jenny (not that she cared about their relationship like _that_), and Connor no longer dating Abby Maitland but rather some other young woman. "Apparently, human social interactions _are_ intertwined tighter than it is usually acknowledged by my peers. Fascinating. What shall I do next?"

As a matter of fact, that last statement was rhetorical, as somewhere deep in the mists of time, a time anomaly opened and several bullseye snakehead fish swam into the rivers of the self-same Carboniferous (Helen's favoured time epoch for experiments).

As the fish from the future face-off with the local primeval amphibians from the past, the scene changed.

"What? What has changed?" Helen blinked from a sudden outrush of vertigo as she stared down at her latest painting, still half-finished (the view of a Cambrian sea floor, complete with sponges, jellyfish and trilobites).

"I'm not sure, sis, because I didn't touch anything," Hilary Becker said quickly, "honest. I am actually going on a date with Jess now, so if you don't mind..."

"Yes, here are the keys to the car," Helen said absent-mindedly, slightly more concerned with her foggy half-memories than with her brother for a change.

As Hilary – fully intending to take advantage of his big sister's current distraction took the keys and began to walk towards the indoor door to the garage, Helen's next words made him pause:

"And don't forget – you dent it, you're grounded!"

"Yes, sis."

End


End file.
